Cristina Georgiana Neagu (; born 26 August 1988) is a Romanian professional

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

er who plays as a left back for CSM București and the Romanian national team. Often considered the best player in the world and rated by many in the sport as the greatest of all time, Neagu is the only female handball player in history to win four

IHF World Player of the Year The IHF World Player of the Year is a handball award given annually to the player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous season, both at club and international competitions. It is awarded based on votes from experts, media a ...

awards (in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018). She also won the

EHF Player of the Year The European Handball Federation, EHF Players of the Year are Team handball, handball awards given annually to the best male and female players who are considered to have performed the best in the previous year. They are awarded based on the EHF P ...

award in 2017 and 2018 (a record). She has been selected to the All-

EHF Champions League The Men's EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the me ...

All-Star Team seven times (2015–18 and 2020–22). A prolific goalscorer, Neagu is the European Championship's all-time leader in goals scored (303). She was the 2015 World Championship top-scorer and was named MVP of the tournament. She also finished as the top scorer of the

in the 2014–15, 2017–18 and 2021–22 seasons. Neagu was given the award of ''Cetățean de onoare'' ("

Honorary Citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

") of the city of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

in 2017.

Early life

Cristina Neagu is the daughter of Vasilica and Constantin Neagu. She was born in

Bucharest, Romania Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, and grew up in

Ghencea Ghencea is a district of the Romanian capital city Bucharest, in Sector 5 (Bucharest), Sector 5. It is home to the famous sports club CSA Steaua București. Nearby districts are Drumul Taberei and Rahova. History Construction of apartment blocks s ...

district, being the youngest of three siblings. Maria Covaci, local middle school coach, introduced her to handball when she was 12 years old.

Professional career

Injury

During the 2010–11 season, her right shoulder cartilage was damaged. On 10 October 2012, Neagu returned to play in the

Romanian Women's Handball League Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

at 605 days (approximately 1 year and 7 months) after injury and after she received long-term treatment in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She got seriously injured again during a training session in January 2013. Neagu was out for six months after undergoing surgery on the left knee for ruptured

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

Comeback and later career

After nearly two-and-a-half years of injuries, Neagu again reached the final stage of the Champions League, this time in 2014 with Montenegrin side Budućnost. On 21 December 2014, she was awarded best left back of the 2014 European Championship. She was also among the tournament top goalscorers, ranking second. After an outstanding 2013–14 season, she got nominated again for the IHF World Player of the Year Award, but this time she lost to

Eduarda Amorim Eduarda Idalina "Duda" Amorim Taleska (born 23 September 1986) is a Brazilian handball player for CSM București. She was voted World Handball Player of the Year 2014 by the International Handball Federation. In an election made by the websi ...

being named second best player in the world with 25.8% of the votes. Neagu won her first Champions League trophy in 2015 after an outstanding season, topping the goalscorers list alongside Andrea Penezić and being voted the best left back of the competition. She was named MVP player at the 2015 World Championship in Denmark, where she scored 63 goals – being the top goalscorer in the competition. Neagu reached the final stage of the Champions League three times (in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

). She has been a member of the European Championship All-Star Team three times (2010, 2014 and 2016). She received a bronze medal at the 2010 European Championship, being also the top scorer of the competition and having the most assists. A bad injury sidelined Neagu once again in the final main round match against Hungary at the 2018 European Championship when she was in a commanding position to finish as top scorer. She tore her ACL and had to undergo surgery on her right knee.

Personal life

Neagu is a huge football fan and a big supporter of local team

FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), commonly known as FCSB, is a Romanian professional Association football, football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the top flight of the Romanian football league system, Romanian league system, t ...

, and attends their matches at the

Arena Națională Arena Națională () is a retractable roof football stadium in Bucharest, Romania. It opened in 2011 on the site of the Stadionul Național (1953), original National Stadium, which was demolished between 2007 and 2008. The stadium hosts major fo ...

stadium.

Achievements

National

* Romanian National League: **''Winner: ''2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018, 2021'' **''Silver Medalist: ''2007, 2008, 2019, 2022'' *Romanian Cup: **''Winner: ''2011, 2018'','' 2019, ''2022 **''Finalist: ''2007, 2020, 2021 *Romanian Supercup: **''Winner: ''2011, 2017'', ''2019, ''2022 **''Finalist: ''2007'','' 2018, 2020, 2021 * Montenegrin Championship: **''Winner: ''2014, 2015, 2016, 2017'' *

Montenegrin Cup The Montenegrin Cup (Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Kup Crne Gore'') is the national football cup played in Montenegro, established in 2006. The winner of the cup is awarded a spot in the second qualifying rou ...

: **''Winner: ''2014, 2015, 2016, 2017''

International

: **''Winner'':

**''Finalist'':

**''Third place'':

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

EHF Cup Winners' Cup The EHF Cup Winners' Cup was the official competition for men's and women's handball clubs of Europe that won their national cup, and took place every year. From the 2012–13 season, the men's competition was merged with the EHF Cup. Winners ...

: **''Finalist'': 2008 *

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

: **''Bronze Medalist'':

* European Championship: **''Bronze Medalist'':

* World Youth Championship: **''Bronze Medalist'': 2006 * European Youth Championship: **''Silver Medalist'': 2005 * European Junior Championship: **''Bronze Medalist'': 2007

Individual

;IHF * 4×

: 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018 * IHF World Rookie of the Year: 2009 *

Most Valuable Player:

* World Championship Top Scorer: 2015 * World Championship All-Star Team Left Back: 2015 * World Youth Championship Most Valuable Player:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

;EHF * 2×

: 2017, 2018 * European Championship All-Time Top Scorer (303 goals) * European Championship Top Scorer:

* European Championship Most Assists: 2010 * 4× European Championship All-Star Team Left Back:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

* European Youth Championship Most Valuable Player: 2005 * European Junior Championship All-Star Team Left Back: 2007 *

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

Top Scorer: 2008 * 3× Champions League Top Scorer:

* 7× Champions League All-Star Team Left Back:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

;National * 6× Romanian Player of the Year: 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 * Romanian Sportsperson of the Year: 2015 *

Brașov County Brașov County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Transylvania. Its capital city is Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" (''țări'') Burzenland and Făgăraș. Name In Hungarian, it is known ...

Sportsperson of the Year: 2008 * Most Valuable Player of the Liga Națională: 2020 * 3× Liga Națională Best Romanian Player:

, 2019 * Cupa României Final Four Most Valuable Player: 2018 * 3×

Pro Sport ''ProSport'' was a daily Romanian newspaper, the country's second largest and most read sports-related publication after '' Gazeta Sporturilor''. It was owned by the PubliMedia International. It was launched in July 1997 by the Media Pro, the bi ...

Most Valuable Player of the Liga Națională: 2018, 2020 2021 * 3× Pro Sport All-Star Team Left Back of the Liga Națională: 2018, 2020 2021 ;Other * 3× Handball-Planet World Player of the Year: 2015, 2016, 2018 * 6× Handball-Planet All-Star Team Left Back: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 2020 *

TV 2 Norway TV 2 (''TV to'') is a Norwegian terrestrial television channel. Its headquarters are located in Bergen. TV 2 began test broadcasting on 13 November 1991, and a year later, it was officially launched on 5 September 1992, becoming Norway's first com ...

World Player of the Year: 2018 * TV 2 Norway All-Star Team Left Back: 2018 * TV 2 Norway All-Star Team Left Back of the European Championship:

* 2×

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

Most Valuable Player: 2009,

* 2×

Carpathian Trophy The Carpathian Trophy ( ro, 'Trofeul Carpaţi') is an annual men's and women's friendly handball tournament organised by the Romanian Handball Federation The Romanian Handball Federation ( ro, Federaţia Română de Handbal) (FRH) is the governing ...

Most Valuable Player:

* 2× Carpathian Trophy Top Scorer: 2006,

* 2×

Bucharest Trophy The Bucharest Trophy ( ro, Trofeul București) is a pre-season international women's team handball tournament for clubs, held each year in Bucharest, Romania. The competition is hosted by Liga Naţională club CSM Bucharest at the Sala Polivale ...

All-Star Team Left Back:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neagu, Cristina 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Bucharest Romanian female handball players Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players of Romania SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea (handball) players Expatriate handball players Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Montenegro